New Telford zoo opens

After months of hard work, Shropshire’s second ever zoo will be opening its doors on Saturday.

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Staff members from the Exotic Zoo are looking forward to opening their new base at Lakeside Plant Centre in Telford

Bosses at The Exotic Zoo at Lakeside Plant Centre in Telford said that they hoped they’d do the community proud.

Scott Adams, owner of The Exotic Zoo, said: “We’ve already got a good name in the area for our work in the community.

“Because of all my work with animals, the burning question has always been can people come and see the animals, and the answer was always no.

“Now people will be able to come and see them.”

It’s been a long time coming – the Exotic Zoo team took over their new location in April and have been working non-stop in the meantime to get it finished in time for the summer holidays.

With help from veterans being treated at Combat Stress in Newport, the work is now done, and families will be able to enjoy seeing a variety of animals from Saturday morning.

Mr Adams said that they wanted to make it as accessible as possible to everybody.

He added: “We’re trying to support people. We want to make people who can’t afford a normal zoo come out.

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“The educational content should get kids really interested too, so that people aren’t just looking at the animals, they’re learning as well. We’ve got a range of animals that people can get close up to.

“I’m really proud of the staff. Everybody has worked so hard and been so passionate.

“Work is still going on. We’re going to be up to the wire. I’m doing 18 hour days, but we’ll be done by Saturday.”

Mr Adams said that inspectors had been really impressed by their efforts so far, adding: “They thought we’d gone to really high standards for a new zoo. We just hope the community is proud.”

The Exotic Zoo opens on Saturday and will be open all week throughout the summer holidays.